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The Real Reason Schools Are Still Full of Junk Food

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A December article from Health Education & Behavior, wanted to test the thesis that if we take junk food out of schools, kids will compensate by pigging out at home or elsewhere.

Over a 2 year period, researchers studied six middle schools in the Northeast. The research was led by Marlene Schwartz, Ph.D., deputy director at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. Three of the schools replaced potato chips, doughnuts, soft drinks and cookies with water, 100% fruit juice, baked chips, granola bars, and fruit. Three other schools maintained their existing food regimen.

Guess what happened?

What you need to know:

According to Schwartz – “we found that when you take soda and high-fat snacks out of schools, students did not compensate at home. Instead, they ate better at school and no worse at home.”

So why aren’t all schools rushing to rid themselves of junk food?

The answer, as usual, is money.

Children are a huge market for food manufacturers. Selling snacks and beverages at schools is a huge business opportunity and it creates lifelong loyalty. Just ask a Coke exec who once said “get them while they’re young”.

Schools benefit from junk food sales too, by getting a commission on sales from vending machines. The dimes and quarters quickly add up to 6 figure sums that help many a school under severe financial burden.

Thankfully more and more schools are realizing that the long term benefits of healthy eating outweigh the short term financial gain.

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  • http://www.weightymatters.ca Yoni Freedhoff

    Aren’t baked chips, granola bars and fruit juice also junk food?

  • annie avery

    ostensibly so, yoni, but a little less dangerous. it all depends on the company supplying the machine. very likely, most of the “snacks” will include baddie ingredients, but to a much lesser extent than soda pop and deep-fried chips, and donuts

  • Christel

    good article; The answer, as usual, is money.

  • http://www.weightymatters.ca Yoni Freedhoff

    I guess my objection lies in labelling “less bad” things as “good”.

  • Carol H

    Often schools are locked into long term contracts with the vending companies. This makes it difficult and/or expensive to switch vendors/products, although there are now many vending companies offering healthier options, and even big food companies are revamping product line-ups (some with more success than others) to meet the changing demand. It’s an evolution that will take some time. The good thing about the “money” factor is that it works both ways — people demanding healthier products will pay for them if given good options, and companies will want to meet the demand. Once production of these products reaches a critical mass, the prices will drop.

  • http://www.fooducate.com/blog Editorial Staff

    Thanks everyone for your comments. I think that “Perfect is the enemy of good” in this case. It’s most likely impossible for schools to switch from Coke to water overnight, and from doughnuts to tree nuts.
    The optimist in me says we are on a new road to healthier food in schools, while the pessimist is waiting to see how food companies fight to maintain the status quo in as many schools as possible.

  • http://www.betterschoolfood.org Dr. Susan Rubin

    The realist in me keeps telling me that the conversation is changing even faster than obesity. We’ve got another factor to consider: sustainablity. Not only will food companies play the “healthier” game, they will also be working hard to greenwash their products.

    Looking at the big picture, we need drinking fountains in our schools. Not flavored water or bottled “spring water”.

    It’s not just our kids health that is sliding downward, it’s become bigger than that when you consider CO2, climate change and peak oil. This is where food / health advocates need to be looking for possible solutions.

  • http://www.agriculturesociety.com Raine Saunders

    For years I have been an activist in the school lunch realm, and we are currently home schooling, so I have been less active on the home front, but I still believe it is important to educate people and generate awareness about why our children are so unhealthy and what can be done to turn things around. And you are absolutely right – it’s always about money. Many schools receive educational materials and school supplies either directly from the companies who sponsor them (like Coke), or receive money in kind to purchase those items. What school will turn that down? Schools are always in need of money, but not because they don’t get enough money. It’s because the money spent is not managed wisely, much like a foolish teenager with an unlimited bank account.

    What needs to happen is movement from the underground food system – the truly sustainable food growers and suppliers need to be given a front seat and access to contracts with schools in order to supply real, traditional, nutritious foods. Processed, packaged foods have no place in the school or really anywhere if people expect their health to improve. Look at what Alice Waters has done in Berkeley, Toni Geraci in Baltimore, or Chef Ann Cooper in multiple school districts like Boulder Valley, various districts in CA, and others. It can be done. And these kids are eating nutrient-dense foods like sprouted grain breads, grass-fed meats, pasture-raised eggs, minimally-processed dairy (although not raw, which is superior), and locally-raised organic or sustainable produced fruits and vegetables.

    For more information about school lunch items, visit Agriculture Society:
    http://agriculturesociety.com/category/nourishing-our-children/
    We have a wealth of information about how parents, teachers, administrators, and community members can work together and bring an end to health epidemics in childrens’ lives, and give them a fighting chance for a great future.

  • Ashley

    I’d much rather that my school educate me instead of telling me what to eat. This is America, it’s a free country. I agree there should be healthy CHOICES (choices being the key word) but if people are too stupid to make healthy decisions about their diet, I have no problem with natural selection weeding them out. I;m tired of babying people.